The Morning Show returns for its second season September 17 on Apple TV+ after a cliffhanger that left everyone talking both on and offscreen. In the finale, infamous co-anchors Alex (Jennifer Aniston, Dumplin') and Bradley (Reese Witherspoon, Little Fires Everywhere) revealed the truth about sexual misconduct in the workplace and the culture of silence at UBA, leaving the network holding on for dear life.
As the second season opens, The Morning Show has hired rising star Eric (Hasan Minhaj, Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj) to stop the bleeding and breathe some life back into the flailing news program. But Eric has a story and agenda of his own, and he may not always want to sing and dance to the producers' tune. The team is also dealing with forces beyond them, as Black Lives Matter protests engulf the country and COVID restrictions encroach on the entire world.
Minhaj spoke to Screen Rant about joining the team, the layers to Eric's charming personality, and dealing with real-time changes behind the scenes.
Screen Rant: I love that you have to develop chemistry with your costars on screen, offscreen, and then also presumably off of the show altogether. What has it been like forming those bonds for an audience in that world and in our world?
Hasan Minhaj: It was really fun. Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon were just so sweet, welcoming me to the show. It's such a sprawling, huge cast, and both Jen and Reese were like, "Hey, welcome to the show. We loved your audition tape. Let's do the song and dance number together."
And so, we open season 2 with a song and dance number between me and Reese Witherspoon, which is really fun.
I love that number. And from the start, it gives you a hint of who Eric is, just how much fun he's having with that number. At the same time, he plays his cards close to his chest. How would you describe him and his view of The Morning Show?
Hasan Minhaj: I would describe Eric as a young, charismatic, diverse news anchor that's come to The Morning Show to climb the ranks - much to the chagrin of Alex Levy and Bradley Jackson.
And I think one of the things that both [writer Kerry Ehrin] and [director Mimi Leder] were trying to convey in the character was, "Hey, there's a lot of people [like him] working in news media, working in Hollywood, and working in show business." There's the old regime, there's the old guard, and then there's a bunch of new voices that are coming in. A lot of people are feeling a certain way, and they get caught up in their feelings. They're like, "Look, I don't like the way the new face of the show is looking. I don't like the way the new face of this movie is looking."
Eric is here to get his and climb the ranks. And, like you said, keeping his cards close to his chest and not letting anybody know what he's thinking about doing as he rises ranks with The Morning Show.
Is there any dynamic in particular, either for yourself or just as a fan, that you're most excited for viewers to see?
Hasan Minhaj: I think I'm really excited to see how fans respond to Greta Lee on the show. She plays Stella Bak, and she's really great on the show. Her backstory as a character, and then who she represents as she bumps heads with Cory is really, really powerful.
And again, there's so many news organizations and just work environments that have that - where the new diverse voice is coming in and shaking things up, and sometimes people are like, "Hey, check yourself." Both sides have something to prove, and I love how that drama unfolds on this season of the show.
Given that The Morning Show handles the news, one of the big things is the pandemic. You guys are tackling them pandemic on screen, but also having to film it during the pandemic. What was that experience like?
Hasan Minhaj: It was pretty surreal. There were times where we would shoot these scenes, and Bradley and Eric are at the desk kind of laughing about what social distancing means. They're like, "What is social distancing? What is that? How can you be socially distant?" And I remember as soon as they would say cut on set, I was like, "Wow, that was so four months ago. That's something I would say, like, four months ago. Mimi and Kerry were changing the script and making sure that we were addressing what was happening in the world in real-time. It was pretty wild.
The Morning Show's second season premieres September 17 on Apple TV+.